|
|
|
|
I love animals! Growing up on a farm in Manitoba I spent my childhood gathering eggs, bottle feeding calves, taming kittens and milking the cow. When I married into the Davison Family it didn’t take me long  to find my niche in the business. Since then I have been learning, seeking to improve, and maintaining the animal area at Davison Orchards with my five young children ‘helping’ me. In this newsletter I am going to let you in on what goes on behind the scenes in the animal barn.
There have always been an assortment of animals on our farm. For many years the land was worked with horse drawn implements making work horses a necessity. When tractors replaced this need, horses did not disappear from Davison Orchards. The Davison girls, Joyce and Linda, spent their childhood riding and engaging in equestrian sports. They were quite the barrel racers in their day! Today the young Davison children enjoy riding the farm pony, Jewel.
|
|
|
Grandpa Bob has never been into horses, but he loves dogs. There have been a number of different dogs over the years, but the story is the same: you don’t see Grandpa without his faithful companion by his side. In the mid-90’s the farm established the petting zoo area, starting out with the little red barn and a gang of goats. Seeing people’s interest and enjoyment in the animals has led us to expand and diversify this area over the years. 2017, the beautiful log barn was built using reclaimed lumber from the 2015 Rock Creek wildfire. It takes a bit more maintenance to keep the interior of this barn clean and fresh, but the animals are cool in the summer and warm in the winter, the hay and straw are stored properly up in the hayloft, and predators are locked out at night. We are thankful for the barn!
|
|
|
People often tell me how romantic my job is; being able to look after all the farm animals with my children in tow really is a privilege! There are days, however, when it’s hard to feel the romance. The thing about caring for animals is that it’s relentless. They need food, clean water, attention, grooming, mucking and more every single day. Sometimes they get sick and require medicine and special attention. When the farm closes its doors on October 31, you can still find me and the kids at the barn every morning and every night because the needs of the animals don’t change. But I wouldn’t trade my job for anything. Watching my children learn about responsibility, animal husbandry, work ethic and the circle of life makes it all worthwhile.
|
|
|
I personally enjoy the challenge, the physical workout and the animals themselves. And the icing on the cake is watching you and your families come and delight in the antics of the goats, gasp at the gobble of the turkeys, laugh at the chubby pigs, and learn from observing and engaging with the barnyard crew.
See you at chore time,
Rachel, for the family
|
|
|
|
Learn to make your own homemade granola with Rachel Davison and the girls!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
